Monday, January 6, 2014

Take Me To The Other Side

Welcome to 2014, y’all! It’s been awhile. I have to say, I am so glad to be back in the
regular grind of things. The holidays
are fun and relaxing but I turn into some crazed couch sloth who only moves for
food and bathroom breaks. It’s not
pretty. I’m not much for making resolutions. I have found that I operate much better with
smaller goals. Also, when you make some
grand proclamation at the beginning of the year and you don’t make it, it seems
to make the agony of defeat that much worse.
I did make some smaller weight-related goals and I’m always making
career goals. I decided not to weigh
until February 2nd. I started my diet
back on Thursday of last week. I’ve been
flawless ever since and man, it feels good to be back. I was starving and grumpy a couple times this
weekend but I already feel better. I don’t
want to know the exact number of pounds I gained over the holidays so I decided
to wait to weigh. My immediate goal is
to lose the holiday weight by February 2nd.
I know what I weighed before the holidays so if I’m back to that by that date, I’ll be
happy. Then, I want to lose around 10
more pounds by March 2nd. This goal is a
little more lofty but I’m still hoping I can do it. Finally, I want 5 more pounds after that by
March 30th. I’m not playing around, y’all. Watch out.

So, if you’re like me, you went into hibernation mode this
holiday season. I didn’t say “no” a
whole lot to food and my jeans made sure to let me know I needed to slow
down. Well, I’m pretty good about
getting back into a diet after the holidays.
Having said that though, I have been feeling pretty hungry since
Thursday. One of the keys to re-starting
your diet is to trick your body into thinking it’s getting as much food as it was
when you were cramming multiple pounds of chex-mix and chocolate down your
throat. One way to do that is to fill
your belly up with plenty of fruits and vegetables. I have been eating a lot of apples. I won’t do this forever but since at this
present moment I feel like I’m hungry every 20 minutes or so, I have to keep a
lot of fruit around. The dish above is
from Ruby Tuesday. They have a new line
of food made with spaghetti squash. This
is the Spaghetti Squash Marinara. It
tastes delicious. I’m not crazy about
the consistency BUT you get a big plate of food that is at least pretending to
be pasta for only 6 points. This way,
you can go to dinner with your family and eat a plate full of food rather than
three pieces of iceberg lettuce and flavorless char-grilled chicken which make
you want to cry yourself to sleep or punch someone in the throat. For those with vegetable-phobias, I won’t
lie. It tastes vegetable-y. I’d still try it though. Kudos to Ruby Tuesday for hooking us up with
better options.

In addition to rekindling my diet plan, I have also set a
pretty big goal for exercise. I’ve been
running a couple years now. I’m not fast
by any means but I have greatly improved.
I first trained for a 5K and I’ve completed several of those now. Then, I trained for a 10K and I was also able
to do that. I got a Jawbone UP for
Christmas. This little device tracks your
activity, steps, calories burned and sleep.
I was so excited about this device, I went out Christmas morning and achieved
my fastest 5K. I noticed that a friend
signed up for the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon that will take place on March 8th so
I decided to sign up too. The most I’ve
ever run at once is a little over 6 miles.
So, 13.1 will definitely be a challenge.
I’ve already started training for it.
It’s kind of terrifying but my goal will be to finish it. If I walk some, I won’t beat myself up but at
this time, I’m training to run the whole thing.

The pictures below are from Christmas and New Year’s. Santa (yes, I'm almost 30) always brings awesome stuff and both
Cassandra and Jordan know about my Harry Potter obsession. Usually, I got out on New Year’s Eve but this
year, Jordan and I pigged out, laughed, hung out and watched TV. We drank champagne at midnight and it was so
nice to welcome in the New Year with him!

I didn’t post any pictures about the Alabama/Oklahoma game
because well, we lost. I am so proud of
the team Alabama has become. I will miss
all of the seniors. The year ended
poorly but I already can’t wait to see what next season looks like. Roll
Tide. Until next week, y’all!

Down 75!

Down 60!

Down 50!

Down 45!

Down 35!

Down 25!

Before

Current Before and After

Down Progression

About Me

I am what my Dad calls a healthy girl who is trying to be less...healthy? None of it makes sense but I am going to attempt to hash it all out here. I love my dog, my family and my friends. Seems silly to tell you much about myself since I will be telling you that sort of thing quite often.